02- 07- 2020

#EtaiBestTime Campaign Launched !

Please find the Files for adaptation in this Link :

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1yJEb47CcWt12L11TSPrAF5HaytMF8pKq

The #EtaiBestTime campaign is on air !

Glimpses of #GKda on social media.

For more visit : www.credaibengalhomes.com

CREDAI Bengal Daily News Update | 02.07.20

WEST BENGAL NEWS

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Newspaper/Online The Times Of India

Date July 02, 2020

OTHER NEWS

SEBI extends compliance relaxations for REITs, InvITs

In March, the regulator had announced the extension in the due date for regulatory filings

and compliances for REITS and InvIT for the period ending March 31, 2020 was

extended by one month over and above the timelines prescribed under the regulations.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday extended the deadline for

regulatory filing and compliances for investment vehicles - REITs and InvITs -- for the period

ended March 31, 2020 by another month over and above the extension given in March.

The temporary relaxations come in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the regulator had announced the extension in the due date for regulatory filings and

compliances for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts

(InvIT) for the period ending March 31, 2020 was extended by one month over and above the

timelines prescribed under the regulations.

"It has been decided to further extend the due date for regulatory filings and compliances for

REIT and InvIT for the period ending March 31, 2020 by a month over and above the extended

timelines specified vide the aforementioned circular," a SEBI circular said.

Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates, noted that the relaxations in

compliance rules in the wake of the pandemic are much required, keeping in mind the

worsening situation.

"The trusts are yet not in a position to comply with the regulatory requirements with only

staggered operations for businesses currently. With increased encumbrances on entities, the

portfolio managers are in a threatened position with the sword of the regulatory filings hanging

overhead," she said.

The relaxation shall provide respite in terms of compliance of norms as well as provide more

room to the trusts to reach a settled position for filings in the extended time period, Chandwani

added.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 02, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/sebi-extends-

compliance-relaxations-for-reits-invits/76741990

Government approves scheme for providing liquidity to HFCs: RBI

Under the special liquidity scheme, the SPV will purchase the short-term papers from

eligible NBFCs/HFCs, which will utilise the proceeds under this scheme solely for the

purpose of extinguishing existing liabilities.

The government has approved a scheme under which the eligible non-bank lenders will be

provided short-term liquidity through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by the SBICAP

securities, a subsidiary of the State Bank of India, the RBI said on Wednesday.

Under the special liquidity scheme, the SPV will purchase the short-term papers from eligible

non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)/housing finance companies (HFCs), which will

utilise the proceeds under this scheme solely for the purpose of extinguishing existing liabilities.

"The Government of India has approved a scheme to improve the liquidity position of

NBFCs/HFCs through a SPV to avoid any potential systemic risks to the financial sector," the

Reserve Bank said.

The instruments will be commercial papers (CPs) and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) with

a residual maturity of not more than three months and rated as investment grade, the RBI said.

"The facility, however, will not be available for any paper issued after September 30, 2020 and

the SPV would cease to make fresh purchases after September 30, 2020 and would recover all

dues by December 31, 2020," it added.

NBFCs -- including microfinance institutions, excluding those registered as core investment

companies -- and housing finance companies that are registered under the National Housing

Bank Act can avail the special liquidity scheme.

However, their net non-performing assets should not be more than 6 per cent as on March 31,

2019 and they should have made net profit in at least one of the last two preceding financial

years (2017-18 and 2018-19).

There are other conditions, like the entities should be rated investment grade by a SEBI

registered rating agency, it said.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 02, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/allied-industries/government-

approves-scheme-for-providing-liquidity-to-hfcs-rbi/76738535

CSB Bank cuts lending rates by up to 90 bps

The Thrissur, Kerala-headquartered bank also cut its base rate by 0.75 per cent to 9.50

per cent, it said in a filing to the exchanges.

South-based CSB Bank on Wednesday announced a reduction of up to 0.90 per cent in its

marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR). The repo linked lending rate (RLLR) has

also been revised to 4 per cent from 4.40 per cent in line with the RBI's rate cuts.

The Thrissur, Kerala-headquartered bank also cut its base rate by 0.75 per cent to 9.50 per cent,

it said in a filing to the exchanges.

The move is in sync with an industry-wide trend of lending rates coming down following heavy

rate cuts by the RBI to boost the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

CSB Bank cut its overnight MCLR by 0.90 per cent to 8.20 per cent, but left the one-year

MCLR unchanged at 9.50 per cent.

Most of the retail and longer-tenor consumer loans by banks are linked to the one-year MCLR.

It also cut the one-month MCLR by 0.80 per cent, three-month MCLR by 0.70 per cent and six-

month MCLR by 0.50 per cent.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 02, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/residential/csb-bank-cuts-

lending-rates-by-up-to-90-bps/76741884

Covid-19 impact: Private equity inflows into Indian real estate to

taper down

Private equity inflows into Indian real estate is expected to be 45-50% lower in 2020 from

a year ago.

The new business environment caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is expected to hit the

pace of investments into Indian real estate this year across various segments including

residential, retail and even hitherto favorite commercial assets.

Private equity inflows in 2020 is expected to be 45-50% lower from a year ago, expects

property consultant Cushman & Wakefield. However, it also believes that this decline is likely

to be a short-term blip as most funds will be realigning their capital allocation stack.

The new scenario emerging post Covid19 is likely to prompt institutional investors to focus on

relatively defensive assets such as warehousing, logistics and data centres.

Rising challenges such as recall of capital by sovereign wealth and pension funds to offer

bailout in their home countries and the emergence of attractive opportunities in the developed

economies on account of drop in valuations due to recession may also hit private equity

investments into Indian real estate asset in the near term, said a Knight Frank India report.

While investment attractiveness of segments like offices, residential and retail are expected to

face challenges of work-from-home, pay cuts and job losses; warehousing is expected to

emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis globally and expect it to outperform other asset

classes in real estate in the near term. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Newspaper/Online Economic Times ( online )

Date July 01, 2020

Link

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-

cstruction/covid-19-impact-private-equity-inflows-into-indian-real-estate-to-taper-

down/articleshow/76734114.cms

Rajasthan RERA makes owners of land answerable to home buyers

The Rajasthan RERA in its recent order has fixed the accountability and liability of the

landowners who will come under the ‘promoter’ category, as per the recently laid

guidelines.

To bring transparency in the real estate sector, the Rajasthan Real Estate Regulatory Authority

(RERA) categorised the definition of ‘Promoter’ to avoid disputes in joint development

projects.

After observing a trend that most of the times developers being declared the accused, the

landowners remain out of the scene, the RERA in its recent order has fixed the accountability

and liability of the landowners who will come under the ‘promoter’ category, as per the recently

laid guidelines.

In its notification dated June 30, 2020, Rajasthan RERA has clarified the role and status of

landowner.

CREDAI Rajasthan secretary Sanjay Gupta said, “In cases where a landowner is treated as

promoter, he will be jointly liable for the functions and responsibilities of the promoter under

the Act to the extent of his functions and responsibilities under the development agreement.” In

the already registered projects where the landowner has been recorded as co-promoter, the

landowner will be treated as promoter depending on his role in the project as stated in the

development agreement.

A RERA official said, “There are landowners who take a share of the built-up area and sell

them on their own. It’s a common practice in the city that the builders and landowners enter into

agreements where the builder takes 60% and the landowner takes 40% of the built-up area and

sells them individually. Since, developer is registered under RERA, the land owner evades from

liability and accountability. To address this issue, the order has been issued.”

For the projects to be registered the authority has removed the term co-promoter in the online

application form for registration of project and new columns namely developer-promoter,

seller-promoter and landowner are to be introduced.

Manoj Agarwal, another developer, said, “The authority will now have powers to hold the

defaulters. There have been instances where landowners take money and escape.”

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 01, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/rajasthan-rera-makes-

owners-of-land-answerable-to-home-buyers/76742015

The authority has also stated that the landowner is not included in the definition of promoter as

given under the Act, therefore he need not necessarily be treated as promoter and the terms of

development agreement executed between the builder and landowner will govern whether a

landowner will be treated as promoter or not.

Irrespective of the fact whether the landowner is treated as promoter or not, the entire sale

proceeds of the project including landowner’s portion will have to be routed through the

separate RERA designated account as required under Section 4(2)(l)(d).

________________________________________________________________

PE inflows into Indian real estate to be 45-50% lower in 2020

Private equity inflows in 2020 is expected to be 45-50% lower from a year ago, expects

property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

The new business environment caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is expected to hit the

pace of investments into Indian real estate this year across various segments including

residential, retail and even hitherto favorite commercial assets.

Private equity inflows in 2020 is expected to be 45-50% lower from a year ago, expects

property consultant Cushman & Wakefield. However, it also believes that this decline is likely

to be a short-term blip as most funds will be realigning their capital allocation stack.

The new scenario emerging post Covid19 is likely to prompt institutional investors to focus on

relatively defensive assets such as warehousing, logistics and data centres.

Rising challenges such as recall of capital by sovereign wealth and pension funds to offer

bailout in their home countries and the emergence of attractive opportunities in the developed

economies on account of drop in valuations due to recession may also hit private equity

investments into Indian real estate assets in the near term, said a Knight Frank India report.

While investment attractiveness of segments like offices, residential and retail are expected to

face challenges of work-from-home, pay cuts and job losses; warehousing is expected to

emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis globally and expect it to outperform other asset

classes in real estate in the near term.

________________________________________________________________

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 01, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/pe-inflows-into-indian-

real-estate-to-be-45-50-lower-in-2020/76741839

Property registrations up in June after two-month slack in

Maharashtra

In June, property registrations across the state rose to 1.6 lakh, showing a significant

recovery from 1,000 in April and 43,000 in May.

Property registrations across the state, particularly in Mumbai and Pune regions, increased

significantly in June. While the revenue collection in the first quarter of this fiscal was 78% less

than the corresponding period last year, in June, it was much better—67% less than the same

period in 2019-20. Developers and officials were optimistic and said the numbers will only get

better from here on.

In June, property registrations across the state rose to 1.6 lakh, showing a significant recovery

from 1,000 in April and 43,000 in May. There was a slow but steady revival of registrations in

June in all the districts, especially in Mumbai and Pune, Inspector General of Registration and

Stamps (IGR) Omprakash Deshmukh told TOI.

More than 2.1 lakh documents were registered for the first quarter this financial year, but they

fell by 75% when compared to last year’s nearly 8.1 lakh documents.

Revenue collection of Rs 1,613.9 crore from April to June too plunged by 78%, data provided

by the property registration department showed. Last year, during the same period, the

collection was Rs 7,501 crore.

Officials said the registration process stopped after the lockdown in March. There was some

revival at the end of April, but it picked up from mid-May when the offices opened in green

zones. Online registrations continued during this period. Registrations are expected to rise once

the offices that are not in containment zones open too.

They may also rise in July once the proposal to allow developers who have sold 25 flats to

register the clients’ documents from their own offices comes into effect. Builders and

developers said the move would be a big boost.

Vice-president of NAREDCO Manju Yagnik said the convenience to register from the builder’s

office will help developers and buyers, and the state government.“Allowing developers to have

the home buyer register his or her home from their office will also bring a sense of security and

ease of doing business in an uncertain pandemic-stressed world,” she said. This year will be one

of technological upgrade, moving the home marketplace to the digital platform, she added.

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 02, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/property-

registrations-up-in-june-after-two-month-slack-in-maharashtra/76741913

Home buyers can soon register agreements at builders’ offices

By July-end, property buyers will be able to register their agreements online in the builder’s

office itself, without travelling to the sub-registrar’s office. The software, which is awaiting

clearance from the government-notified cyber security agency, will not only create digital

infrastructure to enable all developers to register sale agreements, but also reduce footfalls at the

property registration offices.

The software using broadband will make it easier for developers with just a RERA registration

number, a sanctioned building plan and registration with a developers’ association. Property

registration officials said the online option will only be available at the first sale or for the

primary market for easier verification process. The re-sale market has been kept out of this

convenience. “The entire process will be monitored by our office. There will be extra checks on

the builders allocated this software,” said Inspectorate General of Registration and Stamps

Omprakash Deshmukh. Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India national

president Satish Magar, among the developers who had the software to register his projects in

Nanded City, said that he found the process convenient.

________________________________________________________________

Lucknow civic body fails to meet property tax collection target

Officers found that the phone numbers of about 2 lakh owners of 2 lakh properties, out of

6 lakh in the city, were either missing or have been changed.

Struggling due to losses during the lockdown, Lucknow Municipal Corporation has not been

able to meet 50% of its tax collection target from April 1 to June 15. The reason is

that LMC does not have the contact numbers of around 2 lakh property owners in the city under

its jurisdiction.

This was revealed when the corporation was sending links for payment of property tax on phone

numbers of the owners via text messages. The process started in mid-March and ended in June

first week. Officers found that the phone numbers of about 2 lakh owners of 2 lakh properties,

out of 6 lakh in the city, were either missing or have been changed.

The decision to send the links was taken so that people can pay tax online instead of visiting

zonal offices in times of corona. Now, the task remains incomplete three months after the

launch, which in turn has hit tax collection.

As per LMC records, Lucknow has around 5.48 lakh households and around 64,000 commercial

properties which are liable to pay tax. The tax collection target for 2020-2021 is Rs 410 crore

The civic body had to collect around Rs 69 crore from April 1 to June 15, but only Rs 30 crore

has been collected so far. This has aggravated financial crisis in LMC which is already reeling

under Rs 50 crore loss because of loss of revenue through advertisements, sale of parking lot

contracts, ticketing of parks and rent of community/marriage halls during the lockdown period.

Confirming that LMC does not have numbers of 2 lakh property owners, chief tax in charge

Ashok Singh said that while updating phone numbers they came to know that many residents

had changed their contact numbers.

Subsequently, he added, a door-to-door survey to update records began, but LMC could not

contact around 2 lakh property owners for one reason or the other.

Municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi said that the revenue department has been directed

to collect contact numbers of these property owners by visiting them individually and serving a

notice if they are not found at the given address. The notice will put the onus on the owner to

update her/his phone number in LMC records, he said. “The exercise is for the convenience of

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 02, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/lucknow-civic-body-

fails-to-meet-property-tax-collection-target/76742139

the people. Those who will not update phone numbers will have to visit LMC zonal offices for

payment of taxes,” he added.

________________________________________________________________

Only 126 engineers to conduct safety audit of 32 lakh buildings in

Delhi

In an on-going case in Delhi high court, the municipal corporations had admitted that

75% of buildings in Delhi are without sanctioned plans.

With only 126 empanelled structural engineers and 32 lakh buildings in the capital, the project

for conducting a structural safety audit of city buildings in the coming six months faces an

uphill challenge.

In an on-going case in Delhi high court, the municipal corporations had admitted that 75% of

buildings in Delhi are without sanctioned plans. While the process to issue notices to schools

and housing societies has been rolled on by the building departments, many are worried that the

scale of the task cannot be accomplished under the existing plans.

Atul Goel who head URJA, a collective body of Resident Welfare Associations of Delhi, said

the strategy adopted by the civic body is faulty and officials who allowed the problem to reach

current levels, be held accountable. “Why are they playing with the lives of people? There is no

monitoring and accountability in the system.”

Goel said a similar proposal of safety certification was proposed when the current master plan

had come into effect but nothing came out of it and all provisions were diluted layer. “Every

time the court cases come, municipal corporations carry out these antics and try to create a

diversion. Everyone forgets it for a while and the problem keeps growing in size,” claimed

Goel.

There have been over a dozen minor earthquakes over last two months in the city and adjoining

areas. Goel wondered how it was possible for a few engineers to check and certify lakhs of

buildings.

In an affidavit filed before the court, civic bodies had admitted that “only about 25% of the

corporation areas in Delhi fall within the planned/approved areas while the rest, about 75%, is

unplanned and unauthorised.”

Arpit Bhargav, the petitioner in this case, doesn’t seem convinced with the civic body’s plan

either. “90% of Delhi is seismically not compliant. There is a disaster waiting to happen and

authorities are sleeping. If there are 32 lakh buildings on record and if we consider the nominal

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date July 02, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/only-126-engineers-

to-conduct-safety-audit-of-32-lakh-buildings-in-delhi/76738437

figure of 50 lakh dwelling units, are 126 engineers capable of carrying out the survey?” he

questioned.

Even though the municipal corporations have provided the relaxation of using engineers and

experts working in government institutions, the human resource is still not enough. Senior civic

official said that besides empaneled-structural engineers, people can also approach experts

working in government institutes, IIT, DU and AICTE-approved institutions.

Bhargav, however, disagreed. “Even if we add some professors from universities, about 200

people would be available. Can 200 engineers and experts cover 50 lakh dwelling units? How

many years would it take? It’s not possible and everything remains on paper,” he claimed.

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